I think it all depends on the size and layout of your house - we have a small two bed flat + small balcony, so we have toys in the lounge room (lounge, kitchen, dining is open plan) - DD could play in her room and does sometimes, but I would rather be able to see her rather than interrupt what I am doing in kitchen or on computer to check on her - and in the lounge I can always see her, and she can see me. We are pretty restrictive on toys though because of the size of the flat. I enjoy playing with them, and rearranging them myself and if were in DD's room couldn't do that when she is in bed - I see myself as some sort of toy fairy so often the next day a different selection of toys will be accessible.
I have a very high tolerance of mess and disorder though (which from reading these forums seems uncommon) so toys in the lounge room don't bother me in the slightest, and even if had more space things would probably be the same. I don't remember playing in my room very much until I was maybe 8 or 9 and always preferred to be playing downstairs where other people were.
I think the 3 toys rule works well. And teaching kids to put their toys away when they finish playing or as part of getting ready for bathtime/bedtime routine - that way you don't wind up buried under a mountain of toys but the kids can still play in the hub of the house and be involved rather than having to play in their rooms all the time. That said though, there are occasions when DD prefers to play in her room and that's cool too.
We have basically all toys in the lounge room and very few in bedroom, We have 2 plastic tubs that toys get pulled out of and spread everywhere as well as a small indoor tramp, spin and sing zebra and kids couch, we only have 1 living area so have to make do (is open plan lounge dining but still not huge)
we are very lucky and have a separate room off the lounge which is DDs toy room,shehas ALL her toys in there, none in her room or anywhere else...well outside toys out side, but thats it. they come out to where ever we are playing with them, sometime the lounge room,the kitchen table, outside etc but they go back to the toy room after.
when i was a child all our toys were kept in the bedroom, and bought out to play with but put away after, ithink thats a pretty fair rule.
in our old house we had one of those playpens, as it was a highset house and dd was crawling/learning to walk, and all her toys went into the play pen when they werent being used, the pen was inthe lounge room, kinda kept them all together!
I have kids practically the same age, and we only just removed the toy box from the lounge yesterday. From now on, there is a small plastic dolls house in here for them to play with, otherwise they must play in their rooms.
They also are starting to learn that everything has it's place and when they have finished playing they MUST pack their things away. It's going to take a while for this to sink in completely but fingers crossed we get there one day. lol
from a safety perspective, we tend to encourage lounge room play for DD. i'm like WYSIWYG - i'd rather be able to keep an eye on her - and i have a decent tolerance for disorder. Her bedroom has wadrobes with sliding doors, light switch she can reach already, blinds that she finds fascinating, drawers she opens and closes (and trashes the room) - i'd rather have her in the lounge or outside.
we do have a seperate lounge/rumpus/bar room that is kidlet stuff free (well, normally - she will take her baby and pram up there to talk to DH while he fills ice and things - so we still have a limit to where toys etc invade
I think having a limit to the toys is a good idea.. like toys live in the bedroom but they are "allowed" in the lounge room to a certain extent.. we are lucky and in this house and the last house we lived in we have two lounge areas, so one is full of toys and one has the tv etc... i have some toys that live in the tv lounge room coz they are handy to have when we are all in there and they go away in drawers at night so you wouldnt know they are there, some times the kids bring in toys from the toy room, but i have a "everything has a spot" obsession and things get returned back. The book shelf happens to be inbetween the lounge room and the toy room, so books end up in both rooms lol
DS has a few toys in his room that are more for him than for both of them, he has his craft things, his thomas trains and playdough.. he knows they are there and they get brought out usually when DD is asleep and cant rip up our train tracks or eat the playdough lol And when DD gets older we may have some special toys in her room that are things she can play with that she doesnt have to share kind of thing. But the toy room will always be a "must share" zone!! With the two kids sometimes too its good for them to have a bit of space where they can play without the other one right ontop of them, i notice DS will sometimes take a toy to the other lounge room even if im not in there just for some space from DD lol (he is nearly three and she is nearly one- she is at the grab everything stage and doesnt play right lol)
BellyBelly Life Member - Love all your MCN friends
Jun 2004
The Festival State
3,008
we live in a small house, a masionette actually. DD has a cube cupboard in her room, in each cube, is a basket of toys.
the living room is tiny, any where she plays, i will step on those toys, just to be able to walk. we have a "one basket at a time" rule, no matter WHERE she is, as the whole place is tiny. (other wise i step on her toys and break them, by walking the only places you could walk). So she could bring one jigsaw to the living room. there is just enough room on the floor for her to do the one jigsaw. that has to go away before she brings out a different toy. This is not being tidy, so much as, our way of coping with little space.
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